Frequently Asked Questions

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The art of marrying the 26 bones, 30 joints, 29 muscles and over 30 ligaments of the human foot into a rigid plastic boot.

There’s a saying, “You date your skis, but you marry your boots.” When you look at a boot wall and wonder what is the best ski boot money can buy, you have to find the boot that’s most right for your unique feet. It’s important to choose wisely.

• A bootfitters role, is that of a guide. They are there to help you select and modify, a proper fitting ski boot according to your physiology, skill level, and overall needs as a skier. 
• A boot fitter is able to modify and customize your ski boots for an optimal fit. They understand the customization options available to make what would otherwise be the most uncomfortable piece of footwear in your closet, fit like a glove. Not all feet love being in ski boots. Some people just feel really claustrophobic in their ski boots or are extremely sensitive to pressure on their feet. It is the role of the boot fitter to alleviate the discomfort of the ski boots caused by excessive pressure, hot spots, pressure points, loss of heat and blood flow to the foot. 
• Your comfort is unique to you, it is your fitters role to help you find and customize the best possible boot for you.

• Ask your friends if they have had a good experience with a specific fitter. This can be a great place to start.
• Things your fitter should do: Actually look at your feet. Your fitter should measure your bare feet, and shell fit your ski boots. These 2 things are industry standards. If your fitter doesn’t do either of these things.… I would personally consider a different fitter. This doesn’t necessarily mean you require a different shop, but rather a different fitter within the shop.
• Before you are ready to sit down with a fitter, you can go talk with them. Find out what their process is like, and what to expect when you go through the fitting process with them. Just a note: Be mindful of the fitters time. A busy Saturday may not be the best time to do this. Sometimes, you can speak with other shop employees to help direct you to a fitter that will meet your needs in their respective shop.
• Sometimes it is just worth listening to a fitter as they deal with the client in front of them. Ask yourself, Do I want to be fit by this fitter? Do they know what they are talking about?
• Look around in the shop. Who is the fitter that is just selling the boots, and who is the fitter who is fitting the boots.
• There is a difference between a boot seller, and a boot fitter. Boot sellers allow you to choose your own boot along with the size. If the individual you are sitting down with doesn’t measure, look at, and touch your feet, and shell fit, chances are, you are with a boot seller. A boot fitter will measure and analyze your feet and lower leg, consider your overall morphology to help you find the right boot for you. They possess the skills to manipulate and customize your boots to optimize your fit.

• Skiing shouldn’t be painful. Many people believe that all the skiers on the hill around them are suffering in silence with painful and uncomfortable ski boots. This should not be the case.
• Many racers, high level skiers, coaches, patrollers, all the people who need to spend all day in their ski boots aren’t just masking their pain, or have an incredibly high pain tolerance, nor are they in boots that are incorrectly fit. These individuals have worked with their boot fitter to find the optimal fit for their needs.
• Every piece of clothing you own is cut different from brand to brand and even model to model. Ski boots are no different. Your feet are unique to you alone. Feet are like snowflakes, no two are the same. Even left and right, your feet are different. A boot fitters role is to consider your Physiology and morphology and find a boot, that based on its particular ‘cut’ will work as the best starting point for your best fit.
• Comfort is relative to the individual. What is comfortable for me, may not be what is comfortable for you. By working with an experienced boot fitter you can find a boot that is both comfortable, and has the ability to perform, thus enhancing your experience on the ski hill.
• To finish it all off, a properly fitted boot will perform better. Ultimately helping you have a better day on the ski hill.

• No. In fact, quite often you will end up spending less over the long run because you purchased the correct boot the first time. 
• When a boot is the wrong size to begin with, a fitter can only “band-aid” fix a boot. They cannot truly optimize the boot for you because the boot just does not fit to begin with.
• There are times where the shop you are dealing with will have a fitting fee associated with sitting down with a boot fitter. This fee is there to offset the cost of the time and expertise of the boot fitter. Think about it, a discount dentist vs. an experienced one. Who would you choose to go to, and is it worth it?
• How much time do you spend on the ski hill? Do you really want to spend all of that time in discomfort?

• You will have your feet measured. If your fitter only asks you what size shoe you wear… find a new fitter.
• Your toes will touch/press into the front of the boot, and your new boots may feel suspiciously snug. Especially at the end of a summer wearing flip flops and your foot has expanded, your first time back in a ski boot may take some time to readjust to the confines of tighter fitting footwear.
• The fitting process will take time. Expect the process to take up to an hour or more. This is time that your fitter will expect to have uninterrupted attention from you. Uninterrupted time and focus will ensure the best possible outcome.

• Most boot fitting specialty shops have some form of appointment system in place. In most cases you can even request a specific fitter. To ensure the best experience, I would recommend booking an appointment. If you can’t make your appointment or need to reschedule please do. 
• If you choose to just walk into your local shop for a fit, bring your patience and expect to wait. You may not get your choice of fitter if you choose this option. There’s a reason the best fitters a booked in advance.
• There are times when you fitter will be running behind, because they are giving their best service to the customer before you, just as you would expect their best service be given to you.

• Bring your ski socks, insoles and information about the make, model and size of your previous boots with you, or just bring your old boots! Your previous boots will help the fitter to see the boot you’re coming out of just as a reference to help you with your next set of boots. If you don’t already have any of this, thats OK too!
• If you are coming to purchase your first pair of boots come with what you would like from your new boots. If you have existing boots, what you would change if anything about your current boots?
• Think about what kind of skier you are: where are your favourite places to ski, what are your favourite types of runs? this will give your boot fitter an indication of your needs from a new ski boot.
• Be willing to work with your fitter. Having an expectation that your boots will fit perfectly out of the box….. well unless you’re cinderella and you’re being fit for a glass slipper… is unreasonable. The chances of the boot needing zero customization to some degree or another is rather low, and that’s considered normal. Chances are you will need to customize your ski boots to find your best fit. This might mean you will see your fitter a couple times to fine tune the fit of your boots to be perfect for you.
• Bring your skis. After the purchase of your new ski boots, your bindings will need to be adjusted to your new boots!
• Wear shorts, or pants that can be easily rolled up and stay above the knees. 
• Be honest with your fitter about what your expectations are, your ability as a skier, and what you are experiencing while going through the fit process.
• Bring your patience, and ensure you give time to this process. Rushing the process will more than likely compromise the end result.

• Yes!  The ski sock plays an extremely important role in the overall comfort and fit of your ski boot. The overall thickness and/or whether is is targeted to specific areas as well as the materials they are made from will have an affect on the comfort and performance of your ski boots. Ideally beginning your fit with a fresh ski sock will make for a better overall experience.
• The thickness of your sock will impact the overall fit of your ski boot. Your boots will be the tightest when they are new. A thin sock will allow for a better fit overall. As your boot packs out, varying the thickness of your sock will allow you to take up that new space and help to maintain that overall snug fit. A sock that is too thick, will compromise an optimal fit.
• When the sock is too thick, it could potentially affect your bodies ability to pump blood to the foot, resulting in colder feet!
• Targeted padding on the sock in the shins, toes and heel will aid in your overall comfort while skiing. But consider how these thicker areas might affect your overall fit.
• The average person will lose about a cup of moisture a day through their feet (yes even during the winter.) You socks job is to help manage this moisture to help keep you dry and warm.
• The material that your sock is made from will impact how you are able to deal with this moisture
  • Cotton: does a great job holding moisture, does not dry quickly which will result in a colder foot as your ski. Cotton is not an optimal choice during winter activities
  • Synthetics: wick moisture away from the foot and dry quickly, but the downside is they will begin to smell with prolonged use. 
  • Merino wool: maintains it thermo properties when wet, typically dries slower than synthetics, and are naturally antimicrobial (won’t smell with prolonged use)
  • Blends (Merino & Synthetic) try to pull the best attributes of both merino and synthetics all in one.
• It may take some experimentation to find the sock that works best for you. Don’t be afraid to try different socks to really find the sock that works best for you

• A custom footbed will should help to stabilize and balance the foot within the ski boot to give you a complete connection under your foot to your ski boot. 
• The stock insole that comes with your boot is not designed to stabilize and balance the foot, rather its replacement is to be a starting point for the complete customization of your ski boot.
• A custom insole will help to put all aspects of your foot in contact with your ski boot not just the top and sides.
• A properly made custom insole will maintain proper foot function within the ski boot.
• Your medical orthotics probably won’t even fit inside your new ski boots without being heavily altered. Your fitter unless medically trained should not be altering your medical devices to fit in your ski boot. What your fitter can do, is build you a custom footbed designed to stabilize and balance the foot within your new ski boot to optimize your comfort and performance. Everything that goes inside of the boot will play a role in how your new boots will fit, feel and perform.

• When new, your ski boots should fit suspiciously snug. Quite often they will initially feel too small. Snug is different than tight. Once your heel slides back fully into the heel pocket of the ski boot, your toes should feel like they have more space. That being said, your toes will be touching the front of the ski boot. This is normal and is a good sign. 
• Remember a ski boot is a piece of performance footwear designed for a specific application. The demands of the ski boot are different from the shoes you wear on a day to day basis; as such, they might fit a bit different. You wouldn’t run a marathon in house slippers would you? Then why would you ski in them?
• Your ski boot will break in over time. Remember when you bought your last pair of shoes? They felt different from the time you bought them to when you had broken them in. Your ski boot will take some time to break in. And the best way to break in your new ski boots is to go skiing.
• Your ski boot and shouldn’t feel painful, but there might be a bit of a shock to the snug nature of a ski boot when you first put them on. 
• Out of the box, your boots probably won’t fit perfectly everywhere; this is normal. Your boot fitter is looking match the majority of your foot shape with a ski boot so the least amount of customization is required. The boot will quite often still need some form of customization before it’s 100%. Fortunately boot companies have continued to innovate with the materials used in the ski boots to make customization quicker and easier.
• Remember: Your boot fitter is equipped with the tools to make your boots bigger, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to make a boot smaller. The initial fit of the boot needs to be on the snug side so the fitter is able to create space in the boot where needed. 
• Your fitter wants you to be enjoying your time out skiing, and not spend all your time on the boot bench.

• Don’t buy your boot based solely off colour. 
• DO purchase your boot based off of the fit

• Don’t base your boot selection off the fit of your friend, significant other. Their feet are not your feet. 
• DO base your boot selection of the right boot for your you! They’re your feet not your friends! Your fitter is there to help find the optimal fit for you!

• Don’t purchase your boot solely based your boot off a review. 
• DO purchase a boot based of whether or not the boot is right for you!

• Don’t purchase your boots online!
• DO get your boots fit & customized by a professional boot fitter.

• Don’t judge the fit before the boot is done up and your heel is as far into the heel pocket as possible
• DO work with your fitter and be honest about what you are feeling after you have spent some time in the new boot

• Don’t waste your fitters time. If you are just looking, use your eyes and look. If you have questions ask! But the fitting process is taken seriously by your fitter. 
• DO respect your fitters time as you would any other professional. Book an appointment when you are ready to begin your process.
• DO come prepared to your appointment. Bring your ski socks and insoles to your appointment. Trim your toenails, and remove ankle bracelets prior to your fit

• A note for ski professionals: If you are purchasing your boots through a pro deal, make sure your fitter knows this up front. Be respectful of your fitters time and see them during non-peak times.